Search results for 'tag:Nouns tag:Gerunds' matching tags 'Nouns' and 'Gerunds'

Re: Help please! Subordinate or main clause

CalifJim — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:27:31 GMT

Eddie88
The subject in this case has a subject and a verb, why is it not a clause?

Nobody said it was not a clause!

There are several bits of terminology that are confusing.

One set of terms applies to the individual words. 'house' is a noun. 'happy' is an adjective. 'quietly' is an adverb. And so on.

Another set of terms applies to groups of words that do not form complete thoughts or complete sentences, but which "go together". These are phrases: noun phrases, adjective phrases, verb phrases, and so on. 'in the corner' is a prepositional phrase. 'very unhappily' is an adverb phrase. 'the bird singing in that tree' is a noun phrase. 'what I did last summer' is a noun phrase. 'slept for ten hours' is a verb phrase. Phrases can have other phrases or clauses within them. The noun phrase 'the bird singing in that tree' contains the prepositional phrase 'in that tree', for example, and the verb phrase 'slept for ten hours' contains the prepositional phrase 'for ten hours'.

Another set of terms applies to the functions of phrases within clauses. The main terms that show function are words that show the function of noun phrases in a sentence. A noun phrase is almost always going to be one of these: a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, an object of a preposition, or a subject complement.

(Another term for a verb phrase is predicate. And, just to make it confusing, sometimes the term 'verb phrase' is applied only to groups consisting of consecutive verbs, not the objects that follow them.)

This means that the same group of words in a sentence can be labeled in more than one way. For example, anything that is a subject is also a noun phrase. Anything that is an object of a preposition is also a noun phrase. And so on.

Clauses almost always contain a verb. But on rare occasions the verb that is intended is so obvious that it is not stated; the word group is then often called a clause anyway. The verb may show tense ("be tensed", "be finite"), or the verb may not show tense ("be non-tensed", "be non-finite"). Depending on this feature, the clause is called a finite clause or a non-finite clause. Non-finite forms of the verb are gerunds, participles, and infinitives.

Independent clauses are those that can stand alone as complete sentences. These are either complete sentences or the clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions like and or but. All other clauses are dependent clauses. A non-finite clause can only be a dependent clause. But finite clauses can be dependent clauses as well.

Clauses can occur within phrases. These are all dependent clauses. Independent clauses are not embedded within phrases.

the man whom I saw walking down the street yesterday is a noun phrase, but it contains a dependent clause used as an adjective to modify the noun man.

into the house located across the street is a prepositional phrase, but it contains the noun phrase the house located across the street. The noun phrase contains the clause (which is) located across the street (also called a participial phrase). And across the street is also a prepositional phrase inside the larger prepositional phrase.

You have to think in terms of hierarchies and structures that are embedded inside of other structures.

Name the parts of this sentence please.

Eddie88 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:13:42 GMT

Understanding whether a verb is the main verb or not can help tell me if a group of words is a clause or phrase.

Begins with a gerund...maybe a noun phrase too...ends with a subordinate clause...

I'm not too sure...

Thanks.

participle as adjective before a noun and predicate position

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:05:24 GMT

In a thread named "gerund or participle," CalifJim gave this as part of his answer:

For a participle, think adjective, think -ing (present participle) or -ed or -en or -n (past participle).
For a gerund, think noun; think -ing.

a thundering voice. (adjective, present participle)
a closed door (adjective, past participle)
a hidden motive (adjective, past participle)

I think we all can see there are three participles used as before-noun adjectives. When we use participle before nouns like them, the can we safely assume teh participles used can be (should be??) adjectives in a predicate position (most likely after a "be" verb??)?

appear thundering ...
is closed
is hidden

Can we use normal participle with the pattern of "has/had been + participle" as "before-noun" adjectives like above?

Re: Question- please help!

AlpheccaStars — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:57:00 GMT

Here is better punctuation:

Also, when you have a verb form (no comma) and it is the ing form, (comma) is it always a non-finite/verbal (no comma) which means it is a phrase -either a gerund or particple?

The main clause is: is it always a non-finite/verbal

Introductory dependent clauses. There are 2, with the same subordinating conjunction (when) joined by "and". I would interpret "also" as a simple adverb, as in I am going also. :

Also, when (conjunction - subordinating) you have a verb form and (when) it is the ing form,

I would actually end the question before the next clauses, and make a following question.

Does this mean that is either a gerund or participial phrase?

However, you have written it as a relative clause

which (relative pronoun, subject) means (verb)

(that) - omitted (relative pronoun)

it is a phrase (clause, direct object of verb "means")

either a gerund or particple - I would call this an appositive phrase, since it is a restatement of "phrase".

Re: Question- please help!

AlpheccaStars — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:38:21 GMT

Eddie88
Secondly, the phrase you have listed are different from the phrases I have read of. They had the following: prepositional, absolute, appositive, gerund, particple and infinitive...

I suppose that phrases can be classified in different ways - I found a good reference with a similar classification. But the classification can be two-dimentional: the part of speech of its head, and / or its grammatical function in a given sentence.

Noun phrases - includes special sub-categories: appositive (syntactical category), gerund, infinitive (but this can also function as an adjective or adverb)

Verb phrase (can refer to the predicate of a sentence, but also can be just the verb)

Adverbial phrase

Participial phrase - adjective

Prepositional phrase - but it can also function as a noun, adjective or adverb phrase

Absolute phrase - this is phrase that is almost a clause. It modifies the entire sentence.

Phrases- Please help.

Eddie88 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:10:15 GMT

Hi,

1) Beginning a sentence with the word FOR. For the majority of the time I have known Matt, I have been friends with him.

What type of phrase is this? If it isn't, what is it?
Is it alright to begin with the word FOR?
Is the comma essential?

2)Being- Is this a gerund?

If so, it should be 'my being here', and not, 'me being here,'correct?

3) It is a battle we may never win highlighting what a great guy Matt really is.

This is a participle phrase, correct? A particple modifies a noun or pronoun- in this case the phrase is describing Matt, but he is not mentioned in the main clause, so what is it modifying? So is it still a participle?

4) We have actually become great friends sharing passions which include poker, clothes, music, drinking

Because the word sharing is the ing form, it is a verbal/non-finite verb, correct?
What type of phrase is this then?

Thanks a lot.

Re: Question- please help!

AlpheccaStars — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:44:25 GMT

Well, there are sentences, which are made up of clauses (main, independent, dependent), and phrases (prepositional, gerund, infinitive, adverb, noun). There are no other grammatical structures I am aware of except interjections.

Re: Present Participle and Past Participle Tenses....

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:55:53 GMT

Present participles is just the ing form of the ver. And participles are part of verbals. In the english Language there are three verbals. The gerunds, the infinitives and the PARTICIPLES.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PARTICIPLES
1. PAST PARTICIPLES AND
2. PRESENT PARTISIPLES

THE PAST PARTICIPLE ENDS IN D, ED, N,EN AND T

AND the Present perticiples end in ing

Participles modify nouns and pronouns which means that they are describing nouns and pronouns and in grammar, participles function as an adjective and not a verb. Most of the adjectives we use in the english language are mostly PARTICIPLES.

example. The crying baby had a wet diaper.

In this example that i gave.. the word crying is not a verb but a present participle. WHY? because it modifies or in simple terms it describes the word baby which is anoun. ALso it ends in ing which is a rule in identifying present participle.

I hope that i was able to help you on this regard. Have a great day

Best regards,

Princess Mabs

lovingthepinksky@yahoo.com

Re: analyse and differences

AlpheccaStars — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:54:13 GMT

1 She stopped looking for a way out.

She - pronoun, subject
Stopped - main verb, simple past
Looking for a way out. - gerund phrase, direct object of "stopped", answers the question "what did she stop?"
looking for - gerund form pf phrasal verb "look for"
a way out - direct object of gerund.

2 She stopped to look for a way out.

She - pronoun, subject
Stopped - main verb, simple past
to look for a way out. - infinitive phrase, following the catenative verb "stopped"

I consider this an adverbial phrase, it answers the question "why?"

analyse and differences

ericsteef — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:27:39 GMT

f 1 She stopped looking for a way out.

2 She stopped to look for a way out.

my analying to these sentences is like this:

sentence f1 : "She" pronoun functioning as subject
"stopped" is main verb
"looking" i don't know what is it ,it could be gerund,but can we call it second main verb?or adjective?
"for a way out" is prepositional phrase,consist of the preposition "for" and the noun phrase "a way". "out" is an adverb.

the first sentence means that she gave up finding an exit.
the second sentence means that she stopped walking to find where is the exit.

is my analysing correct? and what is the syntatic analyse of the second sentence?